Sunday of The Cross, 2006
March 2006 Metropolitan
Moses
A Sermon
of His Eminence, Metropolitan
Moses
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We continue
our journey to the Pascha of Christ. On the first
Sunday of Great Lent we began with the Truth when we
celebrated the triumph of Orthodoxy. On the Sunday of
Saint Gregory Palamas we encountered the Life, i.e.,
we learned of the workings of grace, that our
salvation consists of participating in God, both in
body and soul. On the third Sunday of Great Lent, the
Sunday of the Cross, we learn of the Way.
In the Cross we encounter the superabundance of God’s love, how He freely chose to save us by the Cross, though there was no necessity to compel Him to do this. In the Cross we stand face to face with the mystery of self-sacrificing, co-suffering love.
The Lord said, Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. (Mark 8:34-35)
Our Savior Himself first took up His Cross and was crucified for our love that we might be moved, that we might come to understand how to throw off the yoke of sin and domination by the passions, that is, by self-sacrificing love.
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:36-37)
In other words, what shall it profit a man to ceaselessly indulge himself, even if he were to “gain the whole world” and be able to fulfill all of his earthly desires these earthly delights and dissipations would not satisfy his soul and in the end would be the cause of his eternal separation from God.
Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy Angels. (Mark 8:38)
One aspect of carrying the Cross, is to confess our Savior “in spirit and in truth.” In our day, the Christians who desire to stand fast and hold the traditions which we have been taught from the Apostles (2 Thess 2:14) are marginalized and ridiculed. Mainstream “orthodoxy” has entered into an adulterous relationship with the god of ecumenism, they are ashamed to proclaim the singleness of truth that Orthodoxy stands for. As difficult as it is sometimes, we are called to stand at the Cross with our Savior, Who was rejected by His people.
On this Sunday of the Cross, let us remember that at the bear minimum in our lives, in our choice of action, we are called upon to do the right thing. It is amazing how human nature can find a way to use the most self-indulgent justifications for not doing the right thing. We all are tempted in this to one degree or another. Young healthy people are careless in keeping the fast. Through laziness one does not attend Saturday night vespers, or arrives very late on Sunday. A person chooses to ignore his responsibility to support the Church. A couple moves in together without the benefit of marriage. One can produce a long list, but the guiding principle is self-indulgence wins out over self-sacrificing love. Life is a balance, not everyone is called to great heroism, but all are called to heroism in at least the small things in life, otherwise we are not carrying the Cross.
May we all follow our Christ and find the Way, the Truth and the Life. Amen.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Cross we encounter the superabundance of God’s love, how He freely chose to save us by the Cross, though there was no necessity to compel Him to do this. In the Cross we stand face to face with the mystery of self-sacrificing, co-suffering love.
The Lord said, Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. (Mark 8:34-35)
Our Savior Himself first took up His Cross and was crucified for our love that we might be moved, that we might come to understand how to throw off the yoke of sin and domination by the passions, that is, by self-sacrificing love.
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:36-37)
In other words, what shall it profit a man to ceaselessly indulge himself, even if he were to “gain the whole world” and be able to fulfill all of his earthly desires these earthly delights and dissipations would not satisfy his soul and in the end would be the cause of his eternal separation from God.
Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy Angels. (Mark 8:38)
One aspect of carrying the Cross, is to confess our Savior “in spirit and in truth.” In our day, the Christians who desire to stand fast and hold the traditions which we have been taught from the Apostles (2 Thess 2:14) are marginalized and ridiculed. Mainstream “orthodoxy” has entered into an adulterous relationship with the god of ecumenism, they are ashamed to proclaim the singleness of truth that Orthodoxy stands for. As difficult as it is sometimes, we are called to stand at the Cross with our Savior, Who was rejected by His people.
On this Sunday of the Cross, let us remember that at the bear minimum in our lives, in our choice of action, we are called upon to do the right thing. It is amazing how human nature can find a way to use the most self-indulgent justifications for not doing the right thing. We all are tempted in this to one degree or another. Young healthy people are careless in keeping the fast. Through laziness one does not attend Saturday night vespers, or arrives very late on Sunday. A person chooses to ignore his responsibility to support the Church. A couple moves in together without the benefit of marriage. One can produce a long list, but the guiding principle is self-indulgence wins out over self-sacrificing love. Life is a balance, not everyone is called to great heroism, but all are called to heroism in at least the small things in life, otherwise we are not carrying the Cross.
May we all follow our Christ and find the Way, the Truth and the Life. Amen.
*Repousse icon of the
Cross by Leonid Ouspensky, 20th
C.
++++++++++
Words of Saint Antony the Great regarding the Cross...